Since 1637, more than 10 prefectures and counties in Shandong have experienced "summer drought without wheat" and "great drought and rice hunger"; In 1638, "there was a great drought in spring, the wells and springs were exhausted, the yellow wind was made, and the sand flew all over the sky"; In 1639, the "Yidu County Chronicle" recorded: "Since the first month of the first month of the rain, as of June, the locusts in July, the year of great hunger, cannibalism, and the homeless people carry the road"; By 1640, it developed into a severe drought in the province, 48 prefectures and counties recorded the occurrence of "cannibalism", and the drought lasted until 1641, "the land was barren, the villages were in ruins", and the people died of hunger.

"If you don't dig a good ditch, this year's harvest will be in danger~~" Song Youliang looked at the earthworks that were progressing very slowly, worried. However, the military households of several tunbao around Haiyang are firmly bound to the tunpu to which they belong, and if Haiyang wants to hire workers, I am afraid that they will have to find a way from outside the military household and the tunbao.

In the ninth year of Chongzhen, Shanxi suffered from drought and insect plague for many years, and in March, it happened again. At that time, the displaced people had no food, so they had to eat tree bark and grass blades. The bark and the blades of grass are all gone, and they are cannibalistic. Nanyang, Henan, near Shanxi, also suffered a famine. Tang Wang Yu played Henan Nanyang hunger, and even his mother cooked his daughter to eat. Emperor Chongzhen issued an edict of 3,500 gold to help Shanxi and Nanyang, and exempted Shanxi from the old and new salaries of the disaster-stricken counties. Even so, a large number of people in Henan still fled to the surrounding state capitals and became displaced people. Some of them flowed into Shandong, and the imperial court ordered that the state capitals should be properly resettled so that the people would not be displaced

When Jiang Huairen, the deputy of the 1,000 households, went to Laiyang County to receive food and wages, the Laiyang Governor of Laiyang County assigned the task of resettlement, and Haiyang had to resettle 500 displaced people. Originally, the guard was under the jurisdiction of the Governor's Office of the Five Armies, and in the late Ming Dynasty, it was assigned to the local government, and the food and salary were supplied by the local government. Now the tasks assigned by Laiyang County, if you don't give you resettlement, then you won't want next year's food

Song Qianjin intuitively felt his scalp tingle, "Placement? How is it placed? He said nervously: "Once the homeless people are about to make a fuss, they will be hungry and hungry, and they will eat whatever they encounter like locusts~ I have seen a group of homeless people slaughter people for food before~~" This made Song Youliang think of the scene in "Resident Evil", and he couldn't help but feel sick to his stomach

Deputy Qianhu Xu Renbiao said: "Although I also sympathize with those homeless people, but our hard work in Haiyang for more than half a year cannot be ruined~~ I think we want to gather all the Ding Zhuang in our fort, if the homeless people come chaotically, we can only use the strong~~"

Jiang Huairen also nodded and said, "Winter wheat has been planted, so the field must not be destroyed by the displaced people." If they keep their duty, then we can take out some grain and boil gruel to distribute to the homeless. If they come out of hunger, then don't blame the people of our Haiyang Institute for being ruthless~"

Everyone discussed until the early morning of the next day, and after Song Qianjin and other free Song Qianjin arranged the task, they were just about to disperse, when a rapid knock sounded, and Li Yugui shouted at the door with a panicked expression: "~~ The homeless people are coming, and there is a large area of black pressure on the ground~~"

Song Qianjin jumped up from the kang and shouted: "Gather all the people over the age of eighteen, copy the guys, and never let the homeless people go to the fields to dig food~~ Youliang, you also take the guys to come along~~"

When Song Youliang, Song Qianjin and others climbed the barrier to take a look, oh my God, there are not only four or five hundred people in this homeless population, but at least one or two thousand. Most of them dragged their children and daughters, and their clothes were ragged and haggard. Some people fall headlong while walking, and never get up again. Among the homeless people, there are those who roar and howl, there are those who do not stop, there are those who scold their mothers, there are those who cry, and all kinds of voices gather together, which makes people's hearts palpitate

In the face of the menacing displacement, nearly 500 men, women, and children from Hai Duong were still panicked with weapons in their hands. Song Youliang hurriedly brought a horse, galloped to Ding Zhuang, took a bird gun from a Ding Zhuang's hand, and said, "Later, I will release it to the sky, and you will also release it~~"

"Obey~~"

Bang~~

呯~呯呯

Ten bird's guns were fired together, and after a burst of gunfire, the speed of the homeless surging forward slowed slightly, and the sound of cries gradually became lower. Only then did Song Youliang open his throat and shouted in his loudest voice: "Listen, the fields of our military households are also cultivated with hard work, blood and sweat. If you camp on the spot, we will give you some rations, if you want to plow our fields, it will be plowing our lives, don't blame us for being ruthless~"

Among the victims, a middle-aged man with a vegetable face squeezed out of the crowd, and he shouted: "This son, we are all honest farmers, and we really can't live to be here, please be merciful and give us some food, we are willing to make cattle and horses for the son~~"

"I just said, you camp on the spot, and we will give you some rations~~" Song Youliang looked cold, pointed to a dry canal in front of him that had not yet been dug and said: "You camp on the east side of this canal, and I will send someone to distribute the grain to you later~~ But you remember, our winter wheat has just been laid down, and you can't plan anything." If someone really faints from hunger and goes into the field to eat, don't blame us for turning our faces and not recognizing people~"

The man arched his hand and said: "Thank you, my name is ***, I am the head of this group of people, my surname Liu takes his head as a guarantee, everyone will never spoil your field, if there is, I will be the first to strangle him~~"

A few cauldrons were set up outside Haiyang to cook porridge. The homeless people lined up in a long line with broken bowls of porridge in their hands, and Ding Zhuang from Haiyang Institute held a weapon to maintain order on the side, "It's lined up, it's lined up~~ The old man and the child come first, and the young one follows~" That being said, it is inevitable that some people are very hungry and want to cut the line, and even snatch food from the hands of the old man and children, Ding Zhuang according to Song Youliang's instructions, found that one time is a whip, as for whether you can survive it, it doesn't matter. Seeing this kind of person being beaten, most of the displaced people pretended not to see it

Song Youliang also ordered *** to cut down trees in the nearby woods if they were still in good health, or collect thatch, build thatched huts in the suburbs, and dug several large pits to use as dung pits, separate men and women, and prohibit open defecation. If someone is found dead, the body is immediately cremated and the ashes are buried deep so as not to cause illness.

In order to take care of the displaced people, Ding Zhuang of Haiyang was divided into half, and the people who dug ditches and did farm work were nervous in advance. On this day, a Ding Zhuang was tired and panting after digging more than a dozen square meters of soil, resting on the wall of the canal with a hoe. A young homeless man jumped into the ditch, took the hoe from his hand, and said with a smile: "Brother, you rest first, I'll come for you~~" As he spoke, he picked up the hoe and began to dig the soil

A few young homeless people who had drunk porridge around also said: "Haiyang is kind-hearted, give us food, we have hands and feet, how can we be cheeky and eat idle food?" Saying that, these young homeless people also jumped down the ditch, took shovels and hoes and began to dig the earth. Influenced by them, more and more displaced people joined the ranks of digging ditches, and some of them did not need to shout after drinking porridge, and just put down their bowls and went to work

When Song Youliang saw this scene, he couldn't help but have an idea, and suggested that Song Qianjin hire these homeless people to dig ditches. Song Youliang said: "These homeless people are much cheaper than hired workers~"

Song Qianjin was a little worried, and said: "Let's help the emergency and not the poor, once we hire them, in case they don't leave in the future, isn't it wet hands with dry powder, and they can't get rid of it if they want to?" Besides, where do we get a lot of money to pay for our work? ”

Song Youliang said: "When our canal is opened, the dealer will not worry about the harvest." With more manpower, more fields can be cultivated. As for wages, keep accounts first, do not give cash, and later make up for it with food. ”

"Is this done?" Song Qianjin didn't turn a corner all of a sudden

Song Youliang said with a smile: "Leave this matter to me, Dad, don't worry, I will never add a burden to our Haiyang." Saying that, Song Youliang went to *** to discuss the employment of homeless people

At this time, he was directing the women to build a thatched hut, and when he heard Song Youliang coming to find him, he hurriedly ran over. "I thank the son for these thousands of men, women and children~~" *** Say goodbye and bow down

Song Youliang didn't stop him, and when he got up, Song Youliang said: "Uncle Liu, I have something to discuss with you~~", and the general told *** about hiring homeless people

I knew that there were homeless people helping to dig the ditch, and I was planning to discuss this matter with Song Youliang, and the two hit it off. As for the old and weak women and children, they can do whatever they can, such as sewing and mending needlework, in short, no one can eat idle food. As for the salary, *** is also refreshing, just take care of food and accommodation at the moment. As for wages, whether it will be given for grain or cash in the coming year will be discussed when the time comes